


ikea and feelings

by girlswillbewomen



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon but Byers don't move, College, Fluff, IKEA, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, first and most important tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlswillbewomen/pseuds/girlswillbewomen
Summary: Will could breathe a little bit easier knowing he won’t have to face Mike every day. Knowing that his heart won’t have to break every time he sees him smile wishing he could be the cause for it. Being reminded that even though Mike and El broke up it doesn’t mean anything because Mike isn’t interested in him. Will can get away from that mind jungle and breathe fresh air where maybe he can be around more people like him. And maybe he can be around someone who actually likes him back this time.He has one more moment to be sad, however, because when he told his friends he was going to Ikea to look for various things for his new dorm, Mike volunteered to drive instead of his mom.
Relationships: Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	ikea and feelings

**Author's Note:**

> hello I wrote this for [this](https://ridinonmyskateboard.tumblr.com/post/628084820747206656/write-a-fic-about-whoever-youre-hyperfixated-on) ask I got. hope you enjoy!

Will Byers can’t believe he can call himself a high school graduate. He can’t believe after all the shit he’s gone through in his life he’s accomplished something like this.

It was fine when he was younger. He took the bullies coming after him and his parents constantly fighting as normal things a kid had to deal with. Nothing that everyone didn’t have to deal with every once in a while. He had friends and a loving mother and brother and he frankly could learn to cope with the other stuff if he had that.

And then a demon trapped him in the Upside Down and possessed his body and made him nothing but a pawn in some larger game he had no interest in playing for three years. He’s had to deal with the residual effects of that his entire life up to this point PLUS still being bullied and having to deal with high school.

But he survived it all. He survived the never ending torture and heartache he’s had to deal with and graduated in the top 10% of his class just this last Saturday. With his family and friends still by his side.

The one thing he almost didn’t survive was being hopelessly in love with his best friend, Mike, while he was hopelessly clueless and also in love with Will’s sister, Eleven.

But that doesn’t matter anymore. They’ve all graduated. They’re going off to different schools and going to find different lives to live. Ones with hopefully a lot less surviving and more just plain living.

Will could breathe a little bit easier knowing he won’t have to face Mike every day. Knowing that his heart won’t have to break every time he sees him smile wishing he could be the cause for it. Being reminded that even though Mike and El broke up it doesn’t mean anything because Mike isn’t interested in him. Will can get away from that mind jungle and breathe fresh air where maybe he can be around more people like him. And maybe he can be around someone who actually likes him back this time.

He has one more moment to be sad, however, because when he told his friends he was going to Ikea to look for various things for his new dorm, Mike volunteered to drive instead of his mom. He loves Joyce, really, but if he’s going to be independent soon he really needs to not be bogged down by her “You’re getting so old” and “I’m so proud of you” sob sessions every day.

So the lack of a car and a strangely optimistic Mike equals one last hurrah for the boys before Will can put his feelings to bed forever.

Mike picks Will up around noon and once he escapes the loving and tight arms of his mother sets on this Ikea journey.

The car ride is quiet. Mike knows what music Will likes and puts on one of the old cds Will gave him because he had extra copies and wanted to share his music with his best friend.

They get to Ikea and Will insists on looking at everything because he received ample graduation money and is excited to have some personalised sheets and chachkies instead of his current room of only hand-me-downs from Jonathan.

“Whatever you say, boss.” Mike says as he claps Will on the shoulder. Mike has gotten much less handsy as he got older so this is a surprise to both of them.

“Right,” Will clears his throat, “well let’s go left to right. The American way. Plus I think the lava lamps are all the way at the end and I definitely want to save those for last so I don’t blow all my savings on them.”

Mike laughs heartily at this and points forward after grabbing the cart “Lead the way, Will the Wise.”

This nickname makes Will blush. He doesn’t know the last time Mike’s referred to him as that. It kind of just reminded him of the last night he was Will the Wise. When Mike might as well have figured out Will was in love with him. And when Will found out for sure that Mike would never be.

As they are going through the store the awkwardness from the beginning conversations, and the fact that Mike was so eager to be here in the first place dissipated and they were able to get into their old groove. Almost as if they never stopped spending every minute together back in middle school.

After getting a strongly worded warning from the store clerk three times in a row they decided to keep their antics at an inside volume for the time being and stop joking around. This led to the talk that neither of them had had since Will found out he got accepted and was going to Purdue University. Mike decided he was going to take a gap year. Even though things have gotten increasingly distant in the last couple of years, it will still be weird for both of them when they don’t see each other every day.

“So...” Mike starts hesitantly, “Purdue! That’s a really cool college, Will. When are you moving in?”

“In a few weeks. I actually got accepted into their early admissions art program and was able to take a few precursor seminars before school officially starts. I’m really excited to be able to meet everyone and get to know the lay of the land before I’m actually there. God knows high school freshman year was hard I can’t imagine it when I’m living in a whole other place.”

“Yeah I genuinely can’t imagine. Good thing I don’t have to until another year passes! Ha!” Mike said a little downtrodden. Will wasn’t sure if taking a gap year was what Mike wanted but he knew that he didn’t announce it until just a few weeks before school ended. Maybe there was another reason he’s taking it...

“Yeah I guess.”

“Dude,” Mike says as he stops the cart and looks Will in the eyes. “I’m so proud of you for real. I can’t believe you got into this prestigious university and got to show us dumbies up even more by getting into a prestigious art program!”

Will wasn’t expecting this genuineness from Mike. His heart fluttered to hear this compliment but broke when Mike was, no doubt, referring to himself as the dumb one.

“Mike, I’m honestly no smarter than anyone else I just...I don’t know I really wanted this. And I was tired of outside forces coming in and ruining my life like they always do. So I may have...gone very hard trying to get as much out of my admissions as possible.” Will said it with true humility. He was confident in his skills, yes, but he thought it was nothing special. He’s just doing what he can to get away from what’s been chasing him since that one summer he went missing.

“Oh please, Will, you’ve always been the smartest of us all,” he says with a punch at Will’s shoulder, “don’t sell yourself short. You’re going to take over the world one day probably.” Mike says with a laugh but genuinely believes it. And Will can tell by the way he’s looking at him.

“Thank you, Mike. That really does mean a lot coming from you.” Will didn’t exactly mean to word it that way and the flicker of shock on Mike’s face forces him to change the subject fast and ignore whatever he just said might have meant. “So...uh...gap year. Do you know what you’re going to do during it?”

Mike hesitates for a second on Will’s face and then starts walking forward again as they get into the kitchenwares. “I don’t know honestly. Apply for schools. Really early this time. Maybe take some classes to fill in the gaps for what I missed when I was messing around in high school. Probably take the SAT a million more times...” he hesitates again. Unsure if he wants this thought to be said out loud. “I..actually wanted to ask you something about that...”

Will has no reason to suspect this question of being anything but innocent but he can’t help but get excited about what’s going to come out of Mike’s mouth. “Yeah, of course what’s up?”

“I think I might...want to start doing photography. Like maybe as a glorified hobby or even, I don’t know, as a career? I was wondering if you could let Jonathan know I wanted to talk to him about that. Get his advice.” Not what Will was expecting. But surprising nonetheless.

“Oh...wow. Really? When did you start doing that?” Will asks him, never remembering a time when Mike was even a little bit interested in anything of the sort.

“I don’t know it...kind of started at the beginning of the year. When El and I broke up...you know it was all amicable and I understood her and she understood me, but it just weird, you know? I had been with her for a lot of years which is not something I can say about hardly anything as an 18 year old. I took a lot of walks and ended up seeing a lot of sunsets. And then I started wanting to see a lot of sunrises so I would wake up earlier. And, this is dumb, but I would buy a bunch of disposable cameras and take them with me on the walks. It became sort of therapeutic trying to find the right angle and time and place. It made me a lot more patient and a lot more attentive. My mom kind of noticed and eventually got me a camera. She’s making bank with alimony by the way. And...yeah. That’s how I got into it and after developing a lot of the pictures I’ve kind of seen that...I’m not too bad at it?” He says this last sentence under his breath, barely audible. “Maybe something actually good can come out of something I do for once...”

“Wow,” was the first and only thing Will said for a couple seconds. This was a lot of information for Will to take in about a guy he hadn’t thought cared much about anything other than trivial stuff. “That’s...kind of amazing Mike. I can’t believe you found something you’re really passionate about. I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah,” he says with a laugh, “don’t hold onto that Mr. College Boy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I...kind of didn’t get into any colleges. As in I applied late as hell, wrote shitty companion essays, and basically bombed my SATs too hard for anything to come to me in my future. So maybe photography is just my cop out for not having to face the fact that I’m not good enough for really anything.”

“Mike!” Will hits him in the arm with some actual force and causes him to stop the cart, almost running into parents chasing their kids to the bunk bed section, frantic looking. “You are not unworthy of everything just because some stupid colleges didn’t accept you!”

“Okay well one of the colleges was Purdue so don’t go bashing your new school that fast.”

“That’s not the point. The point is, look, you had a rough semester. We all do. Unfortunately, colleges don’t care about your personal problems and still have the audacity to judge you based on that one possibly horrible semester. You’re incredible, Mike Wheeler, and no amount of college acceptances or rejections can change that.” Will said back to him with a positively pure heart there to show love to his friend and assure him he’s more than enough.

“Huh...” Mike says with a laugh and pulls the cart up next to a display bed with some (very cool) alien sheets, Will notices.

“What?” Will sits down next to him cradling his arms against his chest, almost scared he said something wrong again or went too far or made Mike uncomfortable.

“Nothing you just...really always know what to say. You’re a good friend, Will. Best friend still if I hadn’t ruined everything probably.” He trailed off.

“I...you...you didn’t ruin everything. Maybe we just work better separate. It’s not anyone’s fault. Just growing up.” Will resigned himself to the excuse of “just growing up” many years ago. When things go wrong or you lose your best friend maybe age is the reason why. And you can’t do anything about it.

“Will...I treated you like shit. I was a horrible friend because I only cared about being a good boyfriend, and, honestly, I wasn’t even a good boyfriend. I really only cared about myself. And how things looked. All you wanted to do was play Dungeons and Dragons. And I just couldn’t let you.”

“We were...we were too old for it.” Will struggles to get that out.

“Yeah well screw that! D&D says ages 13 and up. There’s no cap on the game and I shouldn’t have put a cap on our friendship. I should have...I should have been there for you.”

Will was silent. Not much you can say to something you’ve felt deep in your heart for years but suppressed because you just wanted things to get better. Or at least for conflict to stop. Maybe Will and Mike weren’t best friends also because Will never fought for what he wanted. How could be when he knew Mike would never want the same thing. Maybe in the end it’s both of their faults.

After a long silence of staring at toes and playing with the thread of the blanket on this display bed, Mike finally speaks up. “Will, I have to tell you something. It’s about something I realised when El and I broke up, but I should have realised much sooner. For both of our sakes.”

He was silent. Waiting for an affirmation? Gaining his confidence? Will wasn’t sure but whatever he was about to say sounded like it might change their lives forever. So eventually, Will said “What is it?”

“When you ran out of my house that one day and I...I said what I said about you not liking girls...I knew. I didn’t really know because all I thought about was being a jackass and loving Eleven, but...I did know.” Their hands were flush on the bed inches apart as he was saying this. Will couldn’t move his hand because he was worried if he did anything he might combust. Mike was trying to inch his way to his best friend’s hand.

“I knew that you liked me and I ignored it for the sake of myself and then you ruined your castle and I’ve never felt worse about something since that day. I was being insane, not listening to your signs of hurting, focusing on my own problems solely and just generally ignoring anything but myself.”

Mike’s hand inched closer and linked their pinkies together. Will let out a small gasp of air he was holding and turned his head to their hands.

“Will, I didn’t know it then, but I know it now. And I didn’t know that I...also like you. Like, not to be middle school about it, but like like you. And it doesn’t matter I know you’re leaving and I’m going to stay here and I’m just four short years late but...I just wanted you to know because...that look in your eyes of heartbreak when I sent you riding your bike into the rain. I didn’t know what I could ever do to fix that. And this doesn’t. But I just want you to know that you’re worthy of love. You’re incredible, Will Byers, and no amount of acceptances and rejections from idiot frog faces can change that.”

Mike’s hand was fully on Will’s now. Clutching it ever so lightly as to not overwhelm Will but also expressing the love he has for him in that single touch.

Will’s eyes, transfixed on their hands slowly come up to meet Mike’s, smiling and looking at him with an affection he’s seen before. Suddenly, Will understands why Mike was so eager to come with him to Ikea. He understands the strange looks he’s gotten from him since he’s broken up with El. Mike realised what Will felt for him and decided he felt that way too.

This was so overwhelming to Will he didn’t realise it when his hand reached up to grab Mike’s face. Once he did he immediately took both hands back to himself and turned the other way, bright red. Was he really going to throw away everything he’d said he would forget about liking Mike now that he suddenly reciprocates the feelings? Would he be that stupid?

But it was Mike. Mike who just confessed his “like like” for him on a bed in Ikea, Mike who was grabbing Will’s face now and looking at him deep in the eyes with that same affectionate look before connecting their lips. Right then and there. On the Ikea display bed.

Will had always imagined kissing Mike but never in this way. With Mike being the one initiating It and Mike being the one gently holding his face and Mike breaking it off after a simple peck with eyes telling Will, “I’m serious. And I’m not going to let you down this time.”

“I ...really like these sheets. I want to see if they have them for a twin.” Will spurt out because, truly, everything that had to be said Mike already articulated.

Mike must have known this as well and laughed as he got up and extended his hand to the still sitting Will. “Then we shall find them!”

Will took his hand with a smile as they ventured into the unknown and also the sheet section to find...whatever they were going to find. Hopefully it was the alien sheets in twin size and a bit of happiness as well.


End file.
